Whilst for many the holidays mean manic shopping centres and less traffic during their commute, for the teachers, it’s finally time to relax. Have a break. Read that book you’ve been dying to get through. Go for a run. Have that extra cuppa in the morning or sit and watch Netflix all day long. Whatever it is that you haven’t been able to find the time for during the school terms.
Why is it so important to take a break? Because work life balance is imperative, but it can be difficult to achieve when your home-time is spent thinking about class set-ups, that child you haven’t quite reached yet, the over-bearing parent or trawling the internet for teaching ideas. The stress this puts on your mind and body shouldn’t be taken lightly. And it’s not just stressing you need to worry about. When you’re stuck in the teaching world most of your waking life, relationships can take second fiddle. “Being there” with your family and friends is important, and whilst we may not be able to catch up on the time we’ve missed during the year, we can certainly strengthen those bonds without the stress of school work over the holidays. You have permission to leave school work behind and spend time on you and your family.
A study by the Australian Government in 2014 found over five per cent of registered teachers left that year, with more than half of those surveyed citing being over-worked as the reason. Further research has found that 30 -50 per cent of teachers leave the teaching profession within their first 5 years in the job. Watch that burn-out! It creeps up on the best of teachers, and sadly, I have seen first-hand how hard and quickly some of my teacher friends have fallen when the final straw to the constant workload and heavy demands of a classroom teacher, become all too much.
So for now, spend time with your loved ones, decompress after the year that’s been and keep your mind on what you enjoy. And next year, and not a minute before, when you have recharged those batteries, we can make your life a little easier by assisting your planning for the year. You will have peace of mind knowing you can have a consistent approach to learning for your kids.
From everyone here at Lizard Learning, stay safe these holidays and as always, keep shining brightly!
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